Donald Trump Named Time Magazine Person Of The Year

The Time magazine has named United State’s President-elect Donald Trump as its 2016 Person of the Year.

The announcement was revealed today on NBC’s “Today” show. Speaking on the show via phone, Trump called the title a “very, very great honour.”

Trump has already appeared on Time’s cover on numerous occasions this year, including two covers published before the election that featured a cartoon illustration of his melting face titled “Meltdown” and “Total Meltdown.”

Trump criticized the magazine last year when it picked Merkel, who he called the “person who is ruining Germany.”

Trump, who had been a finalist, tweeted at the magazine “would never pick me as the person of the year despite being the big favourite”, but his statement change on Wednesday after the reveal.

“It means a lot, especially me growing up reading Time magazine, and you know, it’s a very important magazine, and I’ve been lucky enough to be on the cover many times this year,” he said on NBC.

Donald Trump beat out 10 other finalists, including his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton to emerge the winner. TIME, however, declared Clinton their runner-up, and she was also the top pick among TODAY viewers.

The magazine has been selecting the year’s most influential person, group or idea since 1927. Its choices have included nearly every U.S. president, Adolf Hitler, Ayatollah Khomeini, Mahatma Gandhi and Pope Francis, along with groups like the “Ebola Fighters.” The title was changed in 1982 to “Machine of the Year” for the computer.

In its 90-year history, Time magazine has named only four individual women: American socialite, Wallis Simpson, whose marriage to King Edward VIII caused a constitutional crisis, Queen Elizabeth II, President Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, and last year’s choice, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

US Presidential Elections

Donald J. Trump left mouths agape when he amassed a majority of the electoral votes to become the president-elect of one of the strongest countries in the world. Trump’s victory came as a shock to the world as majority predicted a loss for the President-elect and a win for his opponent Hilary Clinton – predictions which fueled the hopes of the ruling Democrats.

Being of the ruling party and having a sound experience in American politics, Hilary, her party, and many Americans believed that the former Secretary of State would be the one to replace outgoing President Barrack Obama. The Hilary side was highly confident of a victory which would break records and break the jinx since women in the United States got the right to vote and be elected president. For the Hilary tribe, it was almost certain that the United States would for the first time, have a female president, and this belief greatly reflected in the opinion polls.

Trump, on the other hand, was a business mogul who had zero experience in politics. However, the Celebrity Apprentice host was smart enough to capitalize on the people’s economic, social and political anxieties. This had to do with issues relating to immigration, gun control, corruption, terrorism, and many others. Donald Trump promised to build a wall on the US-Mexico borders to prevent illegal immigrants from Mexico from entering the US.

Trump’s aggressive campaign of change interestingly outweighed that of Hilary who ran on a platform of continuing President Obama’s policies. However, majority subscribed to Trump’s antagonistic approach. In what seemed to be a silent turn up, Trump amassed a majority of the votes, defying opinion polls which tilted all attention and hopes on Hilary Clinton.

Though it was a winner takes all situation we can’t help but recall the margins. While Hilary amassed 2.9 million votes nationwide, Trump won 30 states. In essence, Donald Trump won the electoral college 304 votes against Hilary’s 227 votes, conquering all stumbling blocks to become the President-elect of the United States.

Donald Trump’s victory means an end to an 8-year dominance of the White House by the Democrats. It also means a repeal of major achievements of the Obama administration. Some of these reforms include a repeal of Obama’s health care law, withdrawal of the nuclear agreement with Iran and review of major international trade deals.

The President-elect was sworn in on January 20, 2017, as the 45th President of the United States, alongside his vice, Mike Pence.